I was pondering some things about the Alliance... Namely just general ideas of how they fight, how they strategize against the Empire as a fighting body but also how they politically oppose the Empire... Opposing ideals/viewpoints are often the groundwork of many major conflicts in our own past, and then other factors fuel the conflict along.

With the Empire... The concept of it is a regime change... Palpatine hails it as a new order for a "safe and secure society"... Perhaps an open cry that the war with the CIS was the act of "dirty aliens" in some way (this ties well to the idea the Empire is largely xenophobic), and further that they're fighting the corruption of the old republic and it's guardians, the Jedi Knights... The republic was a bastion of corruption, inept leadership, political maneuvering, and the CIS seemingly was headed up by groups that best represented this... Corporate groups with full political clout like the Trade Federation, the Commerce Guild, the Banking Clan... All headed by alien races, noteably.

What fuels the Alliance though really intrigued me, and how it could have been perceived perhaps by a majority (especially in the years leading up to the Battle of Yavin, which I think would've been the real critical moment of the galaxy being torn apart in a much more even manner than all the Imperial Rule years prior). Most interesting is the concept of the "Force", and how at the time of Yavin the force is dismissed by many (this is an assumption, but has some basis) as nothing but a kooky old religion that isn't practiced or followed any longer. Something of a crazy cult from a time long ago, and a cult that the Empire would've tarnished through political propoganda from the day 1 of Order 66 one could imagine.

I'd think Palpatine would've largely distanced himself from the force, hiding any ties to it he had in secret, and largely turning people against the force and those who use it... Vader being an exception to some degree... The Alliance of course embraces it as we see them use the phrase "may the force be with you" routinely as a parting saying and all... It does seem somewhat religious in nature to them. A real culture within the Alliance.

I find the whole concept of the "religious tones" the force has with the Alliance intriguing though... Supposing the galaxy at large is soured on the force, and fear the people who used it (if they believe in it existing), or they simply didn't believe in it and feel the Jedi were just a cult that tried to take power at the end of the Clone Wars even, then the Alliance really would be looked upon by many then to be just a religious based military/organization attempting to impose their beliefs over the legitimate government.

The films show, at the end of Jedi, rampant happiness around the galaxy at Palpatine's demise... I've always felt those events aren't anywhere near simultaneous and could be years or even decades apart... They're just celebrations upon liberation which could span quite some time. A good way to wrap up a movie, however it's a somewhat unrealistic way to look at the "end" of things. I think many obviously would fear/loathe the Empire but the Alliance certainly would be an easy target for propoganda campaigns by the Empire, especially if the majority hold the beliefs that seem popular at the end of ROTS when Palpy forms the Empire.

Like with all wars, it all depends on what side of the fence you're viewing things... To some of the wars in the mid-ease, one nation's freedom fighters are the other's terrorists and religious kooks. That wouldn't be any different with Star Wars...

Would there be similar tactics used by the Alliance then, as we see? Would they be the beloved organization the films portray them as if the Alliance performed gurerilla tactics in crowded cities that caused civilian casualties to usurp the Empire's hold on any given planet?

Something pertinent to this idea... In the original X-Wing game for PC, the Alliance takes a Corellian Corvette and a skeleton crew flies it to an Imperial ship yard... A row of Destroyers under construction is the target. They fly the Corvette into the side of the command tower of one Destroyer, and out the other side... it goes through several in the ship yard. Now, being a ship yard it's quite likely the Empire's got a lot of non-combat personnel here working... Civilian contractors working for the organization contracted to build these ships, etc...

I guess this could all tie to the Clerks discussion on civilian contractors working on the Death Star II biting the big one upon it's destruction too, haha.

Still though... It's interesting to me to see the galaxy as not nearly so black-and-white as Lucas liked to portray it... It's easy, to me anyway, to see why the Empire holds it's ideals, and why so many would flock to it (especially early on), and why the Alliance could easily be viewed as nothing more than a terrorist organization stuck on religious beliefs that fueld a "cult" organization once that tried to take control of the galaxy themselves.